PRODUCTIONS

WHAT DO WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT PRESENCE

Outline

‘What We Talk About When We Talk About Presence’ is a new project in collaboration with the Zerkalo Quartet. We are proposing to look at the phenomenon of the performers’ 'presence', as it is often refered to in performative arts, but rarely discussed since it seems to carry a halo of mystery.

We want to look at the presence of oneself, an object, a music instrument, another performer, a witness, an audience, and scrutinise it by using tools to activate a matter-of-fact focus on it. We will work closely with the Méthode Rességuier which draws its theoretical references from phenomenology, development psychology, Chinese philosophy and neurosciences researches. I am currently training as a practician of the Méthode Rességuier and studing psychology in Paris8.

A point of interest in this new research are string quartet musicians. They can be considered as performers who have a strong stage experience, yet a different relationship to their bodies’ performativity and who have expertise in activating a “vibration-able wooden object” outside their bodies, through the stroked strings of their instrument.

This project emerged from my previous research ‘In Search Of A Vernacular’ that was looking at ritualistic practices that have to do with the process of channeling. This process produces very specific types of 'presence' through heightening the vibratory rate of one’s body. I became fascinated with the energetic and psychological aspects at stake in that process.

Credits

With and by : Elisa Yvelin and the Zerkalo Quartet
Guest: Alto solo La Monnaie Orchestra and Méthode Résséguier practician
With the support of: Workspacebrussels, Pianofabriek kunstenwerkplaats and the Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie